I’ve worked for cleantech venture capital firms DBL Investors and Israel Cleantech Ventures and reported about environmental innovation for the Los Angeles Times, Business Week, Greentech Media, GreenBiz and VentureBeat.

I'm a student at the Yale Law School and a former college basketball writer for Fox Sports. Before school, I worked on Capitol Hill and on presidential, gubernatorial and congressional campaigns. As an advisor to candidates throughout the western United States, I helped to elect eight Members of Congress, including wind energy engineer-turned Congressman Jerry McNerney. Follow me on twitter @Cohen_Yoni.

Envia's Energy-Dense Battery Could Cut Electric Vehicle Costs

To date, high battery costs have raised the price and limited the driving range of the Chevy Volt, Nissan Leaf, and Tesla Model S. The battery pack has been the most expensive component of these vehicles, costing as much as half of the cars themselves.

But Envia Systems recently announced a breakthrough that could significantly reduce the price of electric vehicles. The California-based startup revealed that it had developed a rechargeable lithium-ion battery with nearly twice the energy density of today’s batteries. If commercialized, Envia’s battery could cut the price of car batteries in half.

“We increased the energy density to 400 wh/kg [watt-hour per kilogram],” said Envia CEO Atul Kapadia. “Envia is enabling the [electric car] revolution. Not in the future. Not with some cute technology. But right now.”

“Battery progress has been about five percent [a year] in energy density. That is just not going to get us to electric vehicles anytime soon. They will [remain] too expensive,” said Dr. Dane Boysen, BEEST’s Program Director. “BEEST was set up to hit a really aggressive 400 wh/kg metric at the high discharge rate needed for electric vehicles… Envia hit the metric, at least for energy density, which is significant. It is double the current commercial battery. That is awesome.”

Battery Basics and Envia’s Innovations

A battery is made up of a series of cells that produce electricity. A cell’s three primary components are its anode, at one end, its cathode, at the other end, and its electrolyte, in the middle. In lithium ion batteries – which today power many popular smartphones and laptops – lithium ions travel between the anode and the cathode through the electrolyte, creating an electric current.

“The number one problem has been the cost. Seventy percent of lithium-ion cell [cost] comes from materials. Overall, 40 percent of the cost is the cathode alone,” said Envia co-founder and CTO Sujeet Kumar. “The cathode is the costliest component. If you want to reduce the cost of the lithium-ion battery, the first thing you want to reduce is the cost of the cathode.”

In 2007, Kumar began investigating new cathode technologies, hoping to identify a low-cost, energy-dense innovation. After reviewing the academic literature, he settled on a manganese-based chemistry created at Argonne National Laboratory. Envia licensed the technology, and then set to optimize cathode chemistry.

Post Your Comment

Post Your Reply

Forbes writers have the ability to call out member comments they find particularly interesting. Called-out comments are highlighted across the Forbes network. You'll be notified if your comment is called out.